Sunbeams and Blackboards

I taught Sunbeams twice in my mom's ward.  Both times I was blessed with four reverent children who folded their arms and listened to the lesson.  They may have been too quiet.

Ever since I've married, each class - not matter the age - that I have taught in primary has had at least one very quiet and focused child and at least one who is all over the place - except for my lesson.

Since coming to Oregon, I have had the sad and traumatic, the devastation, the "Oh, I love my teacher" and the "good helper" - that's all been the same kid overall.  I think the most that I ever had attend a single class last year was three.  Before the year came to an end, it was generally just me and Elizabeth.  My lessons were of no interest to her. For the most part, she pretended she was a horse.

This year I have her cousin, Hayden, who just recently turned four.  He's been with me since January.  Then, just a few weeks ago, they added Christopher who had turned three in February.  I don't know who thought he was ready for sunbeams.  He's still in diapers. I don't think he's ready to be in sunbeams.

Granted, three years is a long time to be in the nursery.  It is a hard transaction going from playing with toys to just sitting.  From my observation, those that are in nursery for the longest, have the hardest time  adjusting to being still.  I know my Jenna did.  She still does, actually.

 I thought that perhaps having two children would be easier than just having one, but Hayden has taken it upon himself to be the boss of the class and to discipline Christopher and forget about me.

The lesson I had prepared for yesterday was on food and clothing. I cut an apple in half to show them the star inside.   

Hayden was impressed, but did not want to eat any of the star.  I cut the sides of each apple to give to Hayden and Christopher.  I also gave them pretzels and continued my lesson as they ate. 

 I told them that the clothes we wear come from different sources: for instance cotton comes from a plant which comes from seed,

 wool comes from a sheep;  his bumpy coat gets shaved off and it is used to make sweaters and socks.   

There is even a fabric called silk that is produced by tiny creatures that we call silk worms.

Hayden thought I was quite entertaining but refused to believe any of my "tales".  In his mind he knew that all people are smart enough to figure out that all clothes come from Wal-Mart.

Christopher found some chalk near the chalkboard and decided to start drawing with it - which upset Hayden.  After all, he is older, therefore he should be able to delegate Christopher's every move.  Oh, please.

If I notice the chalk and erasers, I will put them in a bag and hang it from a hook above the chalkboard as they can't reach it, and so I knew there was a piece of chalk hanging in the bag.  I retrieved it and let Hayden have the larger piece.  He proceeded to draw what he said was his name.

Hayden then excused himself to go to the bathroom, so I sent him down the hall to get a parent or grandparent to escort him while I kept my eye on Christopher, who decided to add his own handiwork to Hayden's.

Hayden came back all upset that Christopher would dare mess up his name, and so I told Hayden he could stand on a chair and rewrite his "name" so that it would be too high for Christopher to mess with.  His signature looked a lot different from the first.